People return home as Tarcutta fire eases

People are returning to their homes in the southern NSW town of Tarcutta, but emergency services are warning them to remain on the alert.

The Hume Highway reopened in both directions in Tarcutta, east of Wagga Wagga, just after 6pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, after being closed earlier by a bushfire.

But while the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said the immediate threat to Tarcutta village had passed, the blaze was still impacting isolated properties to the northwest of Tarcutta along Mates Gully Road.

Residents in this area have been told to seek shelter as it is too late to leave the area.

RFS spokesman Brendan Doyle said the fire, which has burnt through 500 hectares, could be affected by a southerly change later on Tuesday.

"If the southerly wind changes that may push the fire back on to the town of Tarcutta," he told AAP.

"We really want them to remain vigilant."

He said more than 70 firefighters remained on site attempting to contain the edges of the fire.

Earlier in the day about a dozen people went to the Tarcutta RSL and Citizens Club as residents were told to take shelter when a bushfire surrounded the town.

Gwen Brown told AAP that there were still people at the club in the evening, however, most had returned home.

"We are going to stay open for a little while longer because there are still people here," she said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the club's director Ngharie McCallum said the town was full of smoke.

She said there had been plans to evacuate before residents received updated information not to flee the area.

"We're just sort of sitting and waiting because apparently we are surrounded by fire," she told AAP.

Ms McCallum said the township had not been threatened by bushfire in the 46 years she had been living there.

Twenty Victorian CFA firefighters were on their way to Tarcutta and are expected to arrive on Tuesday night.

RFS said this would allow them to move more units north on Wednesday to fight blazes in Shoalhaven.